Last weekend was the Healthy Lifestyle Expo, held in Woodland Hills and presented by vegsource.com. It was an amazing event with the most elite and well-known professionals in the plant-based world speaking on the latest topics in plant-based nutrition. These included, but were far from limited to Dr. John McDougall, Dr. Joel Fuhrman and Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn (mentioned by Pres. Clinton in a recent CNN interview) and John Robbins.
The event was wonderful on so many levels. Great, up-to-date info on the latest in plant-based nutritional science and wonderful well-respected speakers. Yet it was informal enough that, if you wanted to, you could actually get an opportunity to speak with these giants in the field! I was fortunate enough to talk with a few of them AND get great pictures with Drs. Fuhrman and Esselstyn. I mean great pictures! To my bitter disappointment this evening, I found that somehow those pictures (along with every other pic and video taken with my camera in the last 2 mos.) had been erased from the memory card in my camera!! I’m not lying…true story! I still feel a deep pit in my stomach about it. I was SO excited to share these pictures with you, and for this to happen was just a serious bummer, to say the least. But trust me, I was there and it was great! Big thanks to my friend Mendy for sending me the picture above to share (my ONLY remaining picture from the conference, sniff, sniff).
Topics included, but werent limited to:
- Latest research regarding diet and Multiple Sclerosis – John McDougall, MD
- Learning how to navigate through health and medical misinformation – Matthew Lederman, MD
- Healthy living made easy – Jeff Novick, MS RD
- Taking your passion (and/or nutrition) the next level – Rip Esselstyn
- Using diet to help prevent cancer and increase longevity – Joel Fuhrman, MD
- Ending the heart disease epidemic – Caldwell Esselstyn, MD
- How what you eat and how you eat effects you (include a dose of gratitude) – Rev. Heng Sure, PhD
- Antidote to a Mean World – John Robbins
If you get the opportunity to go next year, I encourage you to consider it. There was such a wealth of information, motivation, even cooking demos! One of the best parts was that all of the food served there was from Dr. Fuhrman’s own recipes; plant-based, whole food without additives, added sugar, salt or oil (Supposedly, but I am sure I tasted some salt and oil that may have been slipped in there by the hotel cooking staff). It was all very tasty. The attendees and staff were all so friendly and everyone had their own very interesting story of how they ended up at this point in their journey and at the conference.
The part that gave me the most optimism and hope for the future of plant-based eating was the number of health professionals (dietitians, medical doctors, etc) who were attending to learn more about the benefits of plant-based nutrition. Many of them are vegan themselves and are educating their patients on how dietary changes can help them improve their health. When you get that many like-minded people together, there is such a great feeling of camaraderie, support and faith that yes, things are changing and people are starting to learn how much power the individual wields with something as simple as what they decide to eat. Amazing!
So now that I’m all inspired it will probably be a while before I post more baked goodies. Last night I did try recreating a dish from one of the cooking demos at the conference. It was demonstrated by Ann Esselstyn (wife of Caldwell Esselstyn, mother of Rip Esselstyn). She was such a kick! It turned out terrific! Everyone ate it and I took pictures, so that may be the next recipe up on the blog in the next few days. Don’t worry. I used the OTHER camera for those pictures, so I’m sure they are safe. So keep your eyes open for some new, healthy recipes coming your way!
Thanks so much for YOUR support of this blog. I hope that you find it helpful, educational and maybe even a little inspiring to help you on your own journey toward better health and happiness. 🙂
Mel's Healthy Kitchen 
GREAT post! Thank you for sharing this! I love it. I am so jealous that I didn’t get to go (or know about it considering I live in L.A.!). I am a physician who advocates a plant-based diet. A friend and I recently started a blog on plant-based diets as a resource for those who are interested in transitioning to a plant-based diet. We have lots of other plans too, but one step at a time. lmk and thanks again for the great post. Glad I found your blog…subscribing now! Jenn (www.theplantrx.com)
Jenn, thank you so much for your comments. I was thrilled to hear that you are an MD who advocated a plant-based diet here in SoCal. We need more doctors like you!
Your blog is great, too and I’ve already subscribed. Your 60 day trial sounds very interesting. Can’t wait to hear about your findings!
I am so bummed I missed it this year. I wanted to hear Dr. Esselstyn more than any of them! I hope he’s there next year.
I hope he’s there again too. He had a great presentation and was very gracious too. Wish I still had my picture with him!
How disappointing about the pix! Next time, we should all have backup and use more than 1 camera…
Thanks Jules. Sounds like a good idea!